THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[Italiamia]

I have a suggested signature for Virgil Tommaso: Nella prossima vita voglio essere un gatto . Dormire venti ore al giorno e aspettare che ti diano da mangiare.

[RomaShield27]

[maro]

It's hard to believe Vooch isn't a littled miffed at the signing and success of Borriello. Even if Ranieri settles on a tridente with Vooch starting alongside Totti and Borriello, he'll have a slightly different role - one with more defensive duties - than I suspect he'd really like. And if Ranieri ends up settling on a true 4-4-2, then Vooch is going to see less playing time than he did last year. And I'm not sure Vooch quite has the requisite sanity to get his head down like a consummate professional in such a situation.

[maro]

Roma, De Rossi: È dimagrito 4 chili
10:50 del 27 ottobre
Leggi anche...
12:59 del 26 ottobre
Roma, Trigoria: De Rossi forza i tempi
11:45 del 19 ottobre
Roma, De Rossi: A Trigoria vige la prudenza

Daniele De Rossi, il leader insostituibile, lo stakanovista, la certezza della Roma di oggi e del futuro. Dall'inizio della stagione ha già saltato quattro partite, le ultime tre di seguito con Genoa, Basilea e Parma. È un record eguagliato. Dall'era Spalletti in poi gli era successo soltanto una volta di bucare tre gare di fila: nel 2005/06 contro il Palermo in coppa Italia e con Juventus e Fiorentina in campionato. Una parentesi all'interno di un cammino mostruoso. Nelle ultime cinque stagioni (più l'inizio di questa) De Rossi ha giocato 251 partite con la maglia della Roma, la media supera le 50 all'anno se si aggiungono gli impegni con la Nazionale. Troppe. I medici lo hanno fermato dopo l'ultimo infortunio al polpaccio accusato a Coverciano.

'Riposat'i gli ha suggerito anche Ranieri, lo stesso che ha impedito al centrocampista di presentarsi in anticipo al ritiro di Riscone. Dopo il Mondiale De Rossi voleva ricominciare subito. Perché lui non ce la fa proprio a staccarsi dalla Roma, figurarsi adesso che è ridotta così. Il castigo è quasi finito. Mentre Totti insegue il gol perduto, Capitan futuro cerca se stesso. Sta meglio, oggi riprenderà gli allenamenti con il pallone e domani dovrebbe rientrare in gruppo per lanciare la sua candidatura in vista del Lecce. La pausa gli ha fatto bene. Almeno a lui. Ha perso quei tre-quattro chili di troppo accumulati e chi lo ha visto allenarsi da vicino negli ultimi giorni è rimasto impressionato in positivo dalla sua voglia di riscatto. 'Si è trasformato', dicono.

If that last bit is true, it's pretty promising. It might explain why he's looked 'tired' and 'heavy' at times this season. It seems a bit hard to believe, though, in this day of sports scientists assessing every last detail of a player's condition and performance. Or perhaps there's been a conscious decision made to take off some of the strength work and get him a bit lighter. It was interesting, too, reading the comments on Pizza over the weekend, tying the quality of his performance to the fact that he'd finally been able to train all through the previous week. That sort of thing makes such a difference, but is also almost impossible to assess from the outside.

[maro]

Liverfekkin'wankscum, 16 milioni per Vucinic
Mercoledì 27 Ottobre 2010 12:23

Mirko Vucinic non sta attraversando un periodo brillante con la maglia della Roma. Il montenegrino ha sempre avuto estimatori in tutta Europa, Spagna e Inghilterra soprattutto.

Secondo indiscrezioni di mercato, il Liverfekkin'wankscum avrebbe pronta un’offerta di 16 milioni di euro per portare il numero 9 giallorosso all’Anfield Road.

Clearly this would be a good deal for both clubs. I'm not sure why Vooch himself would want to exchange one relegation dog-fight for another, though. If he goes to England it'd be much more likely to see him at a club competing for European qualification - like West Brom or Blackburn, say.

[RomaShield27]

Tread [sic] softly, because you tread on my dreams.

[maro]

I think you'd probably melt were that move to happen, no? I'm melting, I'm melting.

[maro]

George Soros, il finanziere americano che due anni fa sembrava interessato all'acquisto dell'AS Roma, ha versato un milione di dollari a favore della campagna per la legalizzazione della marijuana in California, a una settimana dal voto.

[RomaShield27]

Well, if such a move were to happen, I think that may be it for me and football. Not that I could ever stop really supporting Roma, but it would be a hard blow to take. And before you mudslingers take your shots, its not just about Vucinic, I would feel the same if we had of traded Mexes to Milan in June or if we sold De Rossi to Man Ure (as is today being , who say he's the subject of a €20m offer). Modern football holds no surprises and money rules all, this we know, but with Roma and players like the aforementioned three who all profess their love for the club there has to be something seriously wrong if we see things like this happen.

Of course, looking at it from a practical sense, such a move makes little sense consider the figure reportedly being offered when compared to the fee we paid for full ownership of Vucinic. The figures don't add up there, especially when you input how much Vuncinic had come on to become the player that he is. He is also one of Roma's most valuable assests, and so selling him now for such a paltry figure also throws doubt over it. Anyway, as already stated, it is probably all media bullshit, the man himself has no desire to leave, and any offer if true would be (should be) rejected without question.

[maro]

On what do you base the comment that he has no desire to leave? And would this be more of a blow than the sale of Aquilani?

[romawi]

[maro]

Absolutely, chewna, that's what I meant. If Vooch plays and so do Totti and Borriello, he'll have more defensive duties (whether you call this a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-2, the effect will be the same: Vooch will have more defending to do). I was calling this the 'tridente' for short because all three attacking players would be on the pitch, however exactly they might be lined up. By a 'true 4-4-2' I just meant any version in which we had four proper midfielders behind a front two chosen from Totti, Borriello, Vooch, Adriano, Okaka etc. Vooch, it seems to me, is confronted with either more competition for a place up front or the prospect of a slightly different role within the side. And I agree about the attacking space, though Borriello will do that and I could see Vooch being more comfortable, again, alongside Borriello than alongside Totti. It is what Taddei at once brought back to the side and is what Perrotta contributes so much of. People who run off the ball create space for people who are on it. Profondita', as Spags would always insist. He was always on at Vooch and Menez, asking them to give us more of this, whereas both of them are much happier doing their running on the ball.

[romawi]

Very well put, maro, and you make a great point about Taddei and Perrotta. Much like Pizarro, it's becomes painfully clear that this team struggles when they can't contribute in the way that they do.

Continuing my rambling from the previous post... Another problem I see for Ranieri is what to do with Totti. At this point I think he's too good to leave on the bench, and Ranieri has to continue modifying the system in someway so that it suits Totti. He's much more effective when we have a healthy Perrotta, Taddei, and Vucinic on the field, but there's still the chance that he won't fully adjust to a new role in a new system. And I think it's at that point that Ranieri has to either readjust the system so that it works for Totti, or finally go in a different direction, and move forward with Menez as a full time starter leaving Totti on the bench.

[Italiamia]

[maro]

Supports, rather than proves, certainly. In the absence of direct access to "the proper facts" I can only play what I see.

[Italiamia]

[Carlo Romano]

Rumours. I hate this media blackout! All the conjecture and little of substance...except for some troubling news.

LaRoma24.it tells us it may be that David Pizarro has pulled the quadriceps muscle in his left thigh during today's training. If that is indeed the case, he misses the Lecce match on Saturday and Basilea next week. Today our medics aren't sure if it's a small sciatica problem or in fact muscular trouble. He goes for tests tomorrow when they will have a better idea. Vuci left training early as he had a minor back problem. Apparently nothing to worry about.

I'll leave it at this, guys...I can't say I'm over the moon excited to discuss the few other items I saw...Big Fatso Adriano's wish to go home (and I hope he does) or the fact that Vučinić still holds a special place in his heart for Lecce, for example.

[Giacomo]

[Deini]

Adriano was a great gamble. Job well done Prade..

It sucks that Pizarro will miss a few matches. Who gonna replace him for the upcoming matches? Hopefully not Simplicio.

Bertolacci was wonderful yesterday for Lecce. Still sucks that we keep loaning the youth out who have better potential then the ones we buy.

[ASR1927]

The good news just keeps on coming...

Roma Confirm David Pizarro Is Out For Three Weeks

Roma have confirmed David Pizarro will be out for at least three weeks with a left thigh strain.

The Chilean suffered a training ground strain on Wednesday afternoon. He had examinations on Thursday morning with the club's medical staff.

The results show he has suffered a muscular strain to his left thigh and will be out for some time.

It means he misses key games in the Champions League against Basel and the Rome derby with Lazio.

It's not what Claudio Ranieri wanted, but the good news is that Daniele De Rossi is in line to feature against Lecce on Saturday, according to Il Corriere dello Sport.

Rodrigo Taddei has already been ruled out for 40 days after suffering in the Parma warm-up last week.